California Health Benefits Review Program: extension.

Existing law establishes the Health Care Benefits Fund to support the University of California's implementation of the California Health Benefit Review Program. Existing law imposes an annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers for the 2017–18 to 2021–22 fiscal years, inclusive, as specified, to be deposited into the fund. Existing law prohibits the total annual assessment on health care service plans and health insurers from exceeding $2,000,000. Under existing law, the fund and the program became inoperative on July 1, 2020, and are repealed as of January 1, 2021. This bill would extend the operation of the program and the fund through July 1, 2027, and would authorize the continued assessment of the annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers for that purpose for the 2022–23 to 2026–27 fiscal years, inclusive. The bill would increase the allowable total annual assessment on health care service plans and health insurers to $2,200,000. The bill would also make a technical and conforming change. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2028. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.